


Of Old Tales And Twists Of Fate

by constellationtheorist



Category: The Arcana (Visual Novel)
Genre: But Book XI came along, F/M, I hope this will work out, It started as a five chapter completed story, So back to the beginning
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-28
Updated: 2018-07-28
Packaged: 2019-05-31 16:59:02
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,101
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15123875
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/constellationtheorist/pseuds/constellationtheorist
Summary: “It’s like you casted a spell on me.”





	1. An Old Tale

  
  
There is an old tale that the old women would tell to the small children, when the sun settled over the city of Nevivon.

When he first heard it, it must have been around the first days of September. He thinks he was around five years old, but then he isn't sure, not that it matters.  
  
He was in the town's square sitting in a circle with other kids and none of them made a single noise. In the middle was his grandmother and his great-aunt, with two of their friends telling a tale that had captivated the children.

“A long, long time ago, in a land very, very far away from our beautiful town,” started his aunt walking near the children, “there was an old man. A wise one, I am telling you.”

One of his grandma's and aunt's friends, Vivian, stepped front “He knew so many things that all the town's people would go to him when they needed advice.”   
  
“When he was young,”said his grandmother, “he had stopped an arrogant king from a far away kingdom from destroying his homeland.”

“What do you think he did children? He was very young and strong then. I know what you are thinking...”said the other woman, Fia.

“He fought with him!” said a boy around his age.   
“Hm, yes, he did. But not with weapons.”

“With his hands?” a girl asked.

“No, children.” Julian knows that he wasn't the only one who looked confused.

His grandmother smiled. “He fought him with his words.”

The little kids were stunned.

Vivian continued the tale “He told him a riddle. If the king solved it, he could go on with his plans.”

“Only he didn't”said his aunt. “The king left. The town's people celebrated for three days straight. From then on, the old man became their hero.”

The four women began to walk in a circle.

“He lived a long and peaceful life. Had a wife, two children, a nice and little home. He would read a lot so he could help his people.”  
  
Fia stopped and turned to the children. “But nothing good lasts for long children.”

“The king that had once lost, came back. His army was so strong, that the town's people couldn't do anything to save their home.”

“The old man?”asked one of his friends. “He asked him to solve another riddle, didn't he?”

It was his grandmother's turn to speak. “The old man had died in his sleep the night before.”

“Oh.”said the children.

“The people had to serve their new king. He gave them strict orders to follow, which they did, since they wouldn't like to face the consequences.”

“And they were pretty bad consequences”Fia said.  
“The years passed. One day the king left with his army to go to a place very far.”  
  
“A war happened.”Vivian turned her face to the sky. “The king died.”

“None of the soldiers came back. The town's people were free.”

The women stood next to each other. “But again children”,smiled his grandma, “nothing good lasts for long.”

“The king was cursed. When he left from the town, because he couldn't solve the old man's tale, the old man had said to him before his departure: “ _If you come again and I am not here and you still decide to stay, you should know, a red cloth is coming your way.”_  
  
“The red cloth children turned out be a very, very dangerous disease. The king became sick during that war and died, so did his soldiers. One of them was a good man. He had a family to go back to. So when he felt he didn't have much time, he whispered to the sky: _Old man, if you listen, when my time to go comes, sent a sign to my children that I love them.”_

His aunt sat among the children. “The old man listened from a place that we will go after a long time. He came in his dreams and said to him: “ _I will help you, young soldier. But you should know, you should warn others that your king will be unseen, but more powerful than before_.” The young man didn't understand, but he survived and told this little tale to his children.”

“Soon after, a disease that took people's lives day after day broke through where he lived. The old soldier died from it. While he was sick, he heard someone shouting to him and swearing revenge for his unfaithfulness to him.”

“One of the old soldiers’ sons became a doctor and tried to help the sick. He was a very kind and a very talented doctor. He managed to save many people.”

“But the voices his father heard... He started to hear them too.” Vivian took a step closer to the children. “He continued to help people, while the voices became louder and louder. On a big moon, he heard: " _Red cloth around my neck, my body covered in red. I turned the curse into a blessing. I am stronger than you, boy. I hate people who are unfaithful. Your father was. The sins of a father fall on the children. Red cloth around my neck, my body covered in red. I turned the curse into a blessing. I am stronger than you, I am coming for you."_

“Not a long time after, guards of their old king started to chase the young doctor, because they believed that his father had killed their king.”  
  
“The doctor was on the run for three years. Always hiding, always helping, a never-ending circle for him” Fia continued.

“A solution was coming his way. A young magician.”

“Do you believe in magic, children?”asked his grandmother.  
  
“Yes!” Julian did not.

“The doctor did not. But tell me children. Do you believe in love?”

“Yes!” Julian did.

“The doctor did too. He loved the magician so much and they did too. The magician showed the people and mostly the guards what had really happened and beat the angered spirit of the king, who was so strong that he had managed to overcome the curse and turn it against others. Nobody suffered from the disease anymore. The doctor and the magician lived happily. They married and had children. He started to believe in magic.”

“And that's the end of our tale, children”,his grandmother smiled,“but let me tell you what I want you to remember from it. If you ever come across difficult times, keep your held high children. Act like the young doctor. Be kind, be generous and be compassionate. And if you start losing hope, remember... a young magician is coming your way.”

“Now go! It's nighttime, we don't want your parents to be worried.”

He heard the tale many times. Always the same. He believes it is ridiculous how well it speaks to him.

But times are different now.

The magician is here.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! Constructive criticism is always welcome❤️


	2. Of Sudden Trips and Midnight Encounters

Whenever he came in the shop, she would be over a book, underlining something that caught her eye and then quickly scribbling notes on some paper next to her.

He would not make his presence known, looking how beautifully her dirty blonde hair complimented her concentrated face. It wouldn’t take him long to stop gazing at her, only to have her green eyes staring right at him and him only.

“Hello, Tuila.”

She would always pop up her face surprised, letting the feather she was holding smudge whatever she was writing, before coming to him and giving him a quick kiss.

“You look tired, Asra”, she used to say, taking his hand in hers and leading him to the back of their shop, where she would give him a steaming cup of tea. Most of the times, she would have made his favorite, Lapsang Souchong, and if she had run out of it, he would sip at a delicate mix of herbs of hers.

His afternoons with her were always like that; the smell of tea and herbs, feeling his lungs as he runs his fingers through her soft hair, her head placed on his lap and her eyes looking adoringly at him.

“Any adventure worth your mention?” she used to ask and he would always answer, after a small laugh.

“You really like listening stories, right?”, he would say.

“I have a friend that really is the storyteller”, he mentioned one night before they went to sleep.

“Who?” she asked, as she lied down on their bed.

“Julian Devorak. He actually used to be a pirate.” He couldn’t help, but laugh at her shocked expression.

“The Doctor? A pirate? Your friend?” she nudged him as he laughed.

“You are too cute, Tuila”, he breathed, only to see her roll her eyes.

“ I met him at the palace. He had accompanied the Count to some of his military campaigns and actually was the one who amputated his injured arm.”

“And of course, I wasn’t there with you”, she teased him.

He kissed her. “The Count isn’t a nice person to be around. He can get quite...eh...?”

“Annoying?” she tried to help him find his words.

“That is actually a really light way to describe him, Tuila”, he laughed. “ I hang around the palace only for Nadia. I still find it hard to believe they are married.”

“Well, I would really like to meet them.”

Asra jerked up in surprise. “The Count and the Countess?”

She gave him an amused smile. “The Doctor and the Countess. They sound to be good friends of yours.”

“How about I take you to the Masquerade? You will meet them there”, he asked her, as he intertwined their fingers together.

“I’ve never been to one before.”

“Exactly.”

“Well,” she gave him a peck on his lips, “I will gladly accompany you.”

“My pleasure.”

“But don’t you dare forget that the Masquerade isn’t the only place you have to take me”, she said, while pointing her finger to him.

He kissed the tip of her finger. “Now you’re being unfair. You still have to take me to your hometown.”

“I promise I will take you there this summer.”

“Great”, he smiled and caressed her arm.

“And only if you don’t disappear for the following months”, she added.

“Good night, Tuila”, he scoffed and threw the covers over them.

“Good night, Asra.”

~~~

A week had passed after Asra had promised her to go together to the Masquerade and she already had gone to the seamstress to pick the fabric of her outfit. Only one last fitting the next week and it would be ready.

He had teased her for being so excited, when she showed him three different masks she had crafted for each of them.

“Pick one”, she said to him

“We have a whole month, Tuila. A whole month.”

“I only need you to pick one of them,” she extended her hand over the three masks, “so I have the rest of the whole month to make alterations”.

“They look perfect to me already”, he smiled.

She gave him a look, before taking in her hands the fox mask.

“Hm. I think this might be the one”, she murmured as she held the mask next and over his face.

She smiled.  
  
“It will look perfect on you. Now just sit over there and let me make some adjustments...”

He put a hand in front of her. “I have to leave, we’ll do this after, alright?”, he said as he made his way towards the door.

“You have a promise to keep”, she said in a sing song voice.

He sighed. “Will you ever stop teasing me about my sudden trips?”

She shook her head.

“I figured”, he sat opposite to her, “I have to warn you that I can’t sit still for too long”

“Like I didn’t already know”, she smirked.  
~~~  
“I’m sorry”, he whispers in her ear, as he holds her close.

“It’s okay, I understand.” And she does.

She is standing at the doorstep, waving him goodbye, telling him to stay safe. He promises her that he will be home soon.

It’s not his fault.

She closes behind her the door and stands still for a mere of minutes.

“Soon...” she murmurs and starts to think about all the soons Asra has promised her. They certainly were the longest and most unpredictable soons of her life.

“The Masquerade is coming up pretty soon”, he had whispered in her ear when he woke her up the day before he told her he would be leaving. Again.

Of course, she is not mad at him, nor angry. Perhaps a little bit sad and somewhat hurt, but she is sure he feels that way too. He was not able to look her in the eyes, when he said how sorry he was for breaking his promise to take her to the Masquerade. Seeing how guilt clouded over his amethyst eyes, she wrapped her arms around his body and touched her forehead to his.

“There is always next year, right?” she smiled and he nodded while returning her grin.

It was not that she didn’t understand why he would leave so suddenly on a regular basis. He wouldn’t storm off to travel around for his own entertainment, he would travel to strengthen his magic, to follow whatever path he felt that would lead him to the answers to his greatest questions that both of them could not find.

He always hoped and dreamed to be the magician the people needed, the one who would help them make sense of whatever was hidden deep in their hearts and minds, the one who would open their eyes and accompany them on their journey of becoming the ones they deserve to be.

She deeply loved him for that. But she can’t ignore that the gap between them only seemed to grow.

They had spent many nights talking about how she felt abandoned sometimes, when he wasn’t with her and while he respected how she felt, he never had really told her why he always left her behind, instead of asking her to accompany him, while he too, missed her too much when she wasn’t around.

She is not thinking that she is not going to the Masquerade as she trails her fingers down the silk fabric of the dress that has been carefully spread on her bed. She worries about that sooner or later, Asra and she would have to really address a problem that once felt not like a real one, more like an insecurity of hers.

He is, most of the time, hard to read and whereas it didn’t bother her before, it started to make her think that in his sudden trips, he had the opportunity to calm himself of her presence. Perhaps she wasn’t that pleasant to be around with constantly and he needed breaks from her.

Perhaps she needs to take a walk and stop her currently depressing train of thought.

As she is walking down the empty streets, she thinks about how Asra was having a nap yesterday and jumped out of a sudden and started to murmur all of these strange words and then he broke out of this hypnotized state and looked at her so intensively and so guiltily.

He often had these dreams, more like illusions, and then he would kiss her goodbye and follow his instinct to wherever.  
He didn’t do it on purpose, she knew it. Had she been a little bit more confident in herself and she wouldn’t have all of these troubling thoughts, but then again, here she is.

The once empty streets start to buzz with life, since the town’s people make their way back home from the Masquerade. She decides that maybe it would be best if she headed back too, since she had apparently lost track of time.

As she passes by people she notices that most of them are a little tipsy, laughing loud and talking about how extravagant the Masquerade was. She hears snippets of their conversations and smiles as she combines them to imagine how her time at the palace would have been.

“ _Next year”,_ she thinks and doesn’t see the small step in front of her.

Just as she is about to fall, she feels a hand wrapping around her waist and keeping her steady.  
  
“And I thought I was too drunk”, the tall, red haired man chuckles and winks at her. Even in his costume he is quite hard not to recognize.

“I wouldn’t say that, Doctor”, she smiles and turns around to continue her way.  
  
She had seen him many times before around Vesuvia, mostly at the market, even once in her shop where he had a brief conversation with Asra, however, she had never really talked to him.

She feels a a hand on her shoulder and turns around to see him searching her face with a curious gaze.

“You look familiar”, he says.

“Do I?” she cocks her brow.

“Your name?” he asks simply, offering his right hand to her.

“Tuila”, she answers and slowly shakes his hand.

“Tuila?”, his eyes widen with surprise, “as in Asra’s Tuila?”

She is taken back about the fact that Asra probably had talked about her to the young doctor, but she still does nod her head.

“Oh, I’ve heard about you, he told me he would bring you to the Masquerade tonight”, he smiles.

“Well,” she starts, “he had to leave”, she smiles politely to him.

“Oh, how surprising of him”, she chuckles at his response.

“ I will walk you back”, Julian offers and she tries to turn him down politely, but he doesn’t want to hear the end of it.

“You know,” he says as they walk together, “Asra told me how you make all of these natural remedies for colds, headaches and stuff like that”.

“I suppose you could say that.”

“Well,” he clears his throat, “before he left, he stopped by the clinic and asked me if I could teach you, you know, about medicine and treatments, et cetera. You can even help with the patients if you want to.”

Seeing her shocked expression, he adds, “You know he really didn’t want you to feel left behind and making up about a broken promise? Something like that.”  
  
Her heart warms about the fact that Asra had really done something for her this time around and now feels really bad for her previous thoughts.

“I see”, she says and realizes that they had been standing in front of her shop.

“Think about it”, he says as he starts to leave.

Perhaps she will.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! Constructive criticism is always welcome❤️

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! Constructive criticism is always welcome❤️


End file.
